Hey Hey, Its Ester Blueburger

The name of the film I saw is Hey Hey, Its Ester Blueburger. The film was a comedy/drama shot in Australia. I was able to see it on January 23, 2010 at the Millsaps College Recital Hall.

The main character was a thirteen-year-old girl named Ester Blueburger. She is a typical awkward girl in the beginning of her teenager years. She is learning at a girls private school, where she isn't like any of the other girls. She is quirky, different, and very interested in many different things. She meets a girl named Sunni, who is a bit more on the wild side. Sunni goes to the public girls school, and convinces Ester to go the public school without her parents knowing. Ester grows close with Sunni's mom, who ends up passing away in a motorcycle accident. In the end, she went back to her school, where she found her best friend Sunni. Throughout the whole movie, she has a difficult relationship with her parents because they don't seem to notice her and know her for who she really is.

The movie was very bright with a lot of brighter colors. Ester had her basic school uniform, which was consistent throughout the whole movie. When she began hanging out with Sunni, her outfits get a little edge-ier and more rock-ish. I really liked the editing and thought it was not too much, but not too little. The shots weren’t complicated and often ran for a little bit longer (as it there were not a ton of quick shots). When Ester would go to a new place, there would be a view from her point of view. When she was in her house, for example the dinner table, the shots were very straight at stiff. I really like the sequence when Sunni was showing Ester all the different types of people at her school. It was really funny to show each group in their “habitat”. The music was AWESOME. I guess it might be because I love Australian singers, but the songs really seemed to flow well with the movie. I thought the opening song was a great choice to compliment the shots and the beginning of the story.

I thought the story progressed really well and had a couple of different characters or scenes/scenarios that really made the film seem whole and not boring with just the main story line. I really like the story with the brother and how his relationships were with his parents. It made the film not totally about Ester. His character made Ester’s seem more real and full with more purpose. I also liked that we got to see Sunni’s friends and how Sunni was really different from them, even though they were in the same “crowd”.

I’m not sure if I would have made it differently. I loved the music, colors, and characters, but I might have made the story a little bit different. Even though it was a great story, it was predictable and once you watched it for the first 10 minutes, you could predict the rest of the story. I really didn’t watch it as a filmmaker, I just watched it as a regular viewer. I know next time I need to watch it with the intent of being able to analyze and describe it. Overall, I thought it was a really good movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.